Fastening means for airship envelopes



March 17, 1931. K. ARNSTEIN ET AL FASTENING MEANS FOR AIRSHIP ENVELOPES Filed Mai-ch 28, 1929 gin/manic; Karl Arnaiein Paul Helma. Kufi Ba-uoh KARL ARNSTEIN, PAUL HELMA,

d Another object of the invention is to pro-f Patented Mar. 17, 1931 OFncE AND KURT macs, oF AKnoN', onto, AssIGNoRs 'ro eoonYnan-znrr'nnm ooRroRAr-I oN or 'nx'non', OHIO, A oonrona'rion on DELA- Y (WARE FASTENING MEANS Foa 1 133 111 ENvE oPEs Application filed March as, 1929; semi no. 350,567; r

vide" connecting elements for tautening the 'outerenv'elopes of airships between the structural elements which support such envelopes In orderto ma1nta1 n a mm mum resistance to an; on the surface of airship's', 1t 1s essential that the" envelope be maintained taut-and be preventedfrom movement, such as flapping. Heretofore, portions of the outer envelope were constructed in the form of go'res' of considerable width-that were applied to the airship hull structure and drawn manually until the envelope vvas'taut."lhereafter5'sev eral coatings of dope were applied which 'contractedthe envelope until it was reasonably -taut,""but even this treatment did not entirely prevent it from flapping.

The-portions of the outer envelope extending between adjacent longitudinals andnormally having" plane surfaces always have a tendency to "flap despite the fact'that the en velope ha's been stretched under considerable tension. .Ac'eor'ding to this invention, the outer envelope covering the panels between thelongitudinals is drawn inwardly by means of devices includingstrips of material in the form of catenaries that have adjustable connections adjacent accessibleparts of the airship whereby'the envelope maybe drawn inwardlyand at such locationsas to insure-the minimum amount of movement of the fabric. a J

Fora better understanding of the invention, reference may now be had to the'accompanying-drawings, forming a part of the specification, of which;

'Figure 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional View of portion ofan airship having an outer envelope; connected thereto according to the invention ;v

ure 1;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional viewsubstantially at right angles to that shown inFig'ure 1; I

Figure 3 is a fragmentarycross-sectional view illustrating a form of the invention slightly different from that shownby Fig ure 2; i a s Figure 4: is a cross-sectional viewjtaken substantially along the line IV' IV of F ig- Figure'e is a cross-sectional v'iewon a larger-scale, taken substantially along the s line V'-V of Figure 1; I Figure 6-is a' frag'mentary "View of the lnner jpart-rof-an airship in which construe tions embodying the invention are'installed;

- Figure Tie a cross-sectional viewtaken sub stantiallyalong the; line TIL -VII of Figure'6;

Figure 8 -i's a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing in detailcertain features of the construction; and p I Figure 9' is a cross-sectional view showing anotherform-of loop employed in practicing the invention.".;* I I '-[ReferringtoFigures 1, 2-and 3, portions of main rings 10 auxiliary rings 11 and iongitudinalsj 12 ofanairship are shown diagrammatically and serve to'support' an outer envelope or cover 13 composed of flexible material "such as fabric. "Each'portionof the envelope covering" the'panel defined by the longitudinals 12 and rings 10 and 11-in its normal position is taut, as indicated by the broken. lines 14 "shown in Figures 2 and 3'.

ries, and the free edge of each is folded and secured, as indicated at 18 in Figure aim the purpose of providinguopenings or'loo'ped- 7 portions 19 which a cordorwire 120 is slida'blydisposed. As best'shown Figure 9, both edges of'theffabricstrip 15(can be Secured to the envelope 13, thereby forming the loop 19.; The ends of the wire are connected, Y

as indicated at 22,130 'anjaccessible portion main rings 10, and turn-buckles 23 serve to tension the wires, thereby tending to straighten them and to draw the envelope 13 inwardly to the positionindicated by the full lines of Figures 2 and 3. A portion of the strip 15 cut away, ,as indicated at.2%l,to expose the Wire 20, and the exposed portion of the wire is detachably and slidably secured through eyelets or hooks 25 mounted upon the rings 11. Other eye-lets or hooks'26arelocated on the main rings From this Construction it will be observed that the entire portion of the envelope extending from one main ring to another between adjacent longitudinals can be drawn inwardly and thus tightened by I manipulating the turn-buckles 23.

One or more of the strips may be-employed according to the-requirements with reference to the distance between adjacent longitudinals. Two of these strips are shown inFigure 3. Preferably, the wires are inserted through the openings 19 of the strips before the gores constituting the envelope areattached 'to the framework 'ofgthe airship. Then the wires are attached to the hooks and 26, and fastened at their ends, as described above. After the envelope has beenapplied in relatively tautcondition, such as that indicated by the brokenlines of Figures 2 and B, the wires are tensioned by mas nzipulati-ng the turn-buckles to draw the en;

' velope inwardly to the position shown in full lines of Figures 2 and3.

Another form of theinvention illustrated.

by Figures 6, 7 and 8 includes strips of fabric in V the form of catenaries having connections 31, such as stitching, to. the envelope 113. These c-atenaries preterabl-y extend longitudinaily of the airship. Onejedge portion of each of the catenaries is provided with-a cord or wire 82thatis disposed through aloop33 therein. At spaced points 34:, connections 35 to the longitudinals-are provided, each of which connect-ions includes a turn-buckle 36. In order that the connections 35 may be hooked upon the-wires 32, the latter are exposed adjacent the points 34. Each of the connections 35 is attached separately to the longitudinals of the airship, and the outer envelope is thereby drawn inwardly by a series of separately.gadjustable devices.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the tendency of the portions of the airship to flap is reduced to aminimum, and that the means for maintaining the envelope in a taut condition uniformly distributesthe stresses throughout the portions therelof upon which the connections are securec.

Although we have illustrated only the pre-v ,ferred forms which the invention may assume and have descr bed those tormsin detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatt'he invention is not so 'li1nited,1b.u-t that various modifications may-be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In an airship having a rigid framework and an envelope secured thereon, a strip of flexible material having one edge portion thereof secured to the envelope, said strip of material varying in Width, and a tension member secured to the other edge portion of the strip and to the framework, said tension member exerting ,forees transversely of the cover.

2. In an airship having a rigid framework and an outer cover secured thereon, a strip of flexible material having a looped portion, said looped portion varying in distance from the envelope, a tension member disposed through :the looped portion and means for securing the tension member to the framework.

In an airship including a rigid framework and an outer envelope secured thereon, an elongate flexible member connected at a plurality of points to the framework, means for connecting the flexible member to the envelope, portions of-the flexible member being held nearer the envelope than those portions adjacent said points, and means for tension ing the flexible member to draw theenvelope inwardly.

4:. luau-airship including rings, longitudinals and'an outer envelopesecured thereon, .a

ri-ngs, said means including a-device for adjusting thev tension member, andmeans for cletachahly connecting the tension member to a plurality of therin-gs.

5. In an airship including rings, longitudinals and an envelope secured thereon, a strip of flexible material having looped portions disposed longitudinally of the airshi -p and secured to the inner surface of the envelope, said looped portions being spaced from the envelope, sari-d looped portions also being in :the form of catenaries, a tension memberdisposed through the looped portions and connected in a continuous length :to a plura'lityof the rings, hooks fastened to the rings for receiving portions of the tension member, and means for tightening the ten- Ision' member to draw the envelope inwardly.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto signed our names.

Signed ,zat Akron, in the county of Summit andState of Ohio this 26thday of March, 192

, KARL. ARNSTEIN.

PAUL HELMA. KURT EBAUCEL- 

